


Unscripted

by MoreHuman



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Cabaret Reference, Engagement, Gen, Introspection, M/M, Post-Episode: s05e14 Life is a Cabaret, Queer Feelings, it’s mostly just Patrick thinking thoughts and not much else
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:55:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22918048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoreHuman/pseuds/MoreHuman
Summary: He hasn’t seen them, and now when they see him, they’ll be seeing a lot. And he doesn’t just mean the costume. They’ll be seeing the Emcee in all his chaotic queerness, which Patrick built painstakingly, brick by brick, one hip thrust, one lustful gaze, one body roll at a time. He was really counting on getting to tell them about the proposal before they saw all this.
Relationships: Clint Brewer & Patrick Brewer, Marcy Brewer & Patrick Brewer, Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 79
Kudos: 338





	Unscripted

**Author's Note:**

  * For [didipickles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/didipickles/gifts).



> The “so [me] it hurts” prompt from didipickles was: “what do I have to do to bribe you to write about Patrick's parents coming [to Cabaret] and the Queer Feelings Patrick has about playing the Emcee in front of them?” I think I missed out on the bribe, but anyway here are the feelings you ordered.

This wasn’t the plan.

When he proposed to David, Patrick knew that he would be seeing his parents in a few days. He knew they had tickets to a mid-week performance of Cabaret and would be getting in early to spend the day with him before the show. He knew he would have the chance to tell them, in person, exactly the way he wanted to, that he’s going to have a husband. He was counting on it. He didn’t want to wait. Not this time.

Except now he has to wait. Thanks to his dad’s old alternator, his mom’s erratic cell reception, and the leisurely pace of what passes for roadside assistance in rural Canada, his parents arrived just in time for curtain and he hasn’t seen them. He’s backstage in his Emcee costume and makeup, shifting from foot to foot, waiting for the overture to start, and his parents are out in the audience, sitting next to a man they don’t yet know is going to be their son-in-law. 

He hasn’t seen them, and now when they see him, they’ll be seeing a lot. And he doesn’t just mean the costume. They’ll be seeing the Emcee in all his chaotic queerness, which Patrick built painstakingly, brick by brick, one hip thrust, one lustful gaze, one body roll at a time. He was really counting on getting to tell them about the proposal before they saw all this.

Not that it should matter. It’s probably some heteronormative bullshit that it matters. But if they’d heard the story about the hike, about the rings, about the picnic and the speech he prepared, they would know that this is just a character, that there’s nothing chaotic about his own queerness. The last time they were in town, he introduced David as his boyfriend, and now that he’s about to introduce him as his fiancé, he’s worried his parents will get the idea that he’s some kind of gay Pokémon, constantly evolving to the next stage. Constantly evolving away from the person they knew. He needs them to see that his queerness is settled, he feels settled, and he’s still who he’s always been.

His parents spent too many years watching him pretend to be someone he’s not. The last time he told them he was engaged, he was pretending to be someone he’s not. It’s different this time and he wants to prove it. He knows he can prove it, even while he’s wearing the Emcee’s skin. Unlike the character he so often played with Rachel, he’s having fun with this one and it shows. It’s obvious. He hopes it’s obvious. He hopes his parents will see that this person—this actor who builds chaotic queerness brick by brick and loves it, is good at it—this person is also who he’s always been.

The lights brighten on stage, which means the house is now dark. At the first notes of the overture, Patrick crosses behind the set to wait for his cue at the middle door. He doesn’t make eye contact with any of his castmates but he can feel them all around, ready. He shakes out his arms.

He’s not worried about nerves spoiling his performance. He’s not worried about his performance at all. It’s a script and blocking and choreography and a tempo set by the orchestra. Plans stacked on plans stacked on plans, all rehearsed and waiting to be executed. And even when things don’t go perfectly to plan, it’s all right because no one’s out there alone.

Last night Stevie jumped three lines of dialogue in the middle of one of their scenes, and they managed to shuffle them in later on the fly, following each other’s instincts. There’s a sequence in “Two Ladies” that he stumbles through every time, but Jade, the most talented dancer in the cast by far, always covers for him. She pulls off a spin move so mesmerizing, there’s not a chance anyone will be looking at his feet.

Theatre is a lot like sports this way, he’s realized. You work hard on your technique and drill the plays so that when the moment arrives, you trust yourself and your teammates to get each other through. It’s the only way it works.

He’s still not quite used to knowing that plans can feel this way. Like they’re stronger for belonging, in part, to other people. A team. His life before Schitt’s Creek was also a stack of plan after plan after plan, but he never shared any of those with anyone. Every routine, every rehearsal, every performance, he did it all alone. He never trusted himself to do it any other way.

Anyway, his team is counting on him to thrust his hips and gaze lustfully, and, well, he’s very proud of how good he’s gotten at body rolls. Body rolls are really hard. So no, there’s not a chance he’s going to hold back just because his parents are here and he didn’t get to tell them his big news the way he planned to. His performance is its own kind of big news.

Right on cue, the Emcee makes his entrance.

“Meine Damen und Herren…”

***

There’s too much adrenaline pumping through him after the show for proper makeup removal. He does a cursory swipe with cold cream and a damp cloth, throws a hoodie over his costume, and heads off to where he can’t wait to be.

He finds David and his parents standing just down the hallway from the dressing rooms. His fiancé is holding flowers, but Patrick doesn’t take them, instead grabbing his free hand, his left hand, planting a kiss on the knuckle of his ring finger, right between the two gold bands, and he doesn’t know what he’s about to say until he’s saying it:

“Mom, Dad, I asked David to marry me. We’re getting married.”

His mom shrieks and throws her arms around his middle, his dad tries for a bear hug and probably gets makeup smeared on his shoulder, the flowers get crushed as David is pulled in too, and Patrick just lets the chaos happen. It’s perfect.

Having a plan can be lonely. It’s better to have a team.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] Unscripted](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25935577) by [Amanita_Fierce](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amanita_Fierce/pseuds/Amanita_Fierce)




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